Warring Twilight
by Taltos
Summary: Mere hours after the Deathsaurer's defeat, loyalties are once again divided, and Raven and Reiss are wanted fugitives. But...maybe not everyone wants them that way. More specifically, The Hero and That Girl. [VanReiss! W00t]


**Warring Twilight**

_When the sun goes down, I see you_

_ Beautiful and haunting, but cold_

_ Like the blade of a knife–so sharp, so sweet_

_ Nobody knows your heart..._

_-_Mononoke Hime

The sun was setting on the sorry heap of rubble that was once the proud city of Evopolis. A smog of ancient dust and grime still hung in the desert air, a reminder of the destruction of the Deathsaurer and subsequent collapse of the Zoidian city. Despite the probably harmful effects of the haze, the rich sunlight turned it into a rain of golden motes, a beautiful dance of miniscule fireflies.

The Valley of the Rare Hertz looked harmless, or as much as a place such as that could become. The sandy stone was painted in a palette of brilliant colors, ranging from crimson to gold. It looked as it normally did: ominously mysterious, a place of unbridled ambiguity that kept all secrets that passed through its stony walls.

Permanently bowed at the edge of the Valley was the gargantuan Ultrasaurus, a black wound gaping in its chest, and another in its mighty weapon. Faint wisps of smoke still issued sparsely from the holes, but they had long-since cooled from the attack the Deathsaurer had inflicted. Loud music and shouts could be heard faintly from the zoid, obviously a victory celebration taking place.

Some distance from the fortress zoid, Reiss perched atop a misshapen boulder in the dying light. Even though thick diesel smoke hung heavily in the air, she sat still, gazing intently at where her city had risen, brief as its resurrection had been, only to fall ironically back into its old tomb again. An ocean of golden desert swam around his large rock, stretching out to the shimmering expanse beyond. Specular sat curled at the base of the boulder, awaiting a command from her mistress, whose toes barely skimmed the organoid's metal hide.

As the girl stared unblinkingly at the Valley, she suddenly gritted her teeth. Stifling a strangely inhuman sound in the back of her throat, Reiss bent her head toward her thighs. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the hot tears stream down her cooled cheeks.

She clenched her chattering teeth and jerked out, "F-forgive me, Mother Eve, for I have f-failed you." Then she folded into herself, and let the grief take her. Wave after wave of shuddering sobs washed through her system, until finally she was still. She sat, unmoving, for another moment, letting the tears soak in.

Finally, Reiss took a deep, shaky breath and raised her face, using a thin sleeve to dry her sodden cheeks. She slid slowly off the rock, using Specular as a convenient stepping-stone, and finally touched on the sand with the soles of her boots. She turned to the east, where night had already fallen.

"Come on, Specular. Let's...let's go."

A hiss and hesitant, clanking rise from the sand answered her.

"Yes. Wait–no. Well...yes. Yes, I'm sure." She shook her head, swallowing hard. "Let's just go. I don't know where. Away." Without another word, she started out, walking parallel to the Valley. She left behind a lonely set of footprints, stretching away down the sand, that created strange shadows.

Specular stared after her for a moment, then followed reluctantly after, darting hesitant glances behind them. The clawed tracks of the dusky-blue organoid overlapped Reiss's perfectly, almost as if the girl had never been. However, she just walked briskly ahead of Specular, away from the zoid that was threatening to swallow her footsteps.

It seemed she had been walking endlessly. The ridges of the Valley still rose at her right, and the Ultrasaurus was still visible, sitting stubbornly on the horizon. After about ten minutes, Reiss stopped. She just stopped, thinking for a moment.

After a good thirty seconds, she laughed, perhaps a bit hysterically, holding a gloved hand to her forehead. "I don't know where I'm going. There's..." She took a shuddering breath. "There's no place for me to go." With that, she promptly sat down, right in the sand. Specular lay down contentedly beside her, as she had before.

Reiss stared at her hands, sitting uselessly on the sand before her, and giggled again. "I guess I'm homeless." She glanced over her shoulder at the Ultrasaurus. "And they would shoot me on sight." She sighed and flopped back to lie spread-eagled on the sand, not caring if sand got in her hair or not.

Above, the sky was a strange, warring mix of flaming red and stormy blue. Stars barely peeked from the east, winking out happily. Reiss imagined that they were singing a chiming song, a crystal-like bell ringing. What was the word? Tin...tintinnabulation. That was it. She closed her eyes, listening.

_Do not fear. The mother is not dead, Reiss. She will watch over you. Rejoice that life has blessed you with its miracle, Reiss. Reiss...Reiss..._

"Reiss!"

The girl shot up, her cheeks frozen with the chill of night. She noted with faint surprise that somehow, the sun had sunk much lower–it was almost gone. When the violent head rush hit her, she almost swooned, but put a hand out and caught herself. Specular was no longer lying by her side, but was standing upright, hissing with hostility. _Who–?_ Reiss glanced over her shoulder, and saw the absolute last person she would ever have expected to be calling her name: Hero-Boy himself.

Reiss shoved herself to her feet, keeping behind Specular so that she was, at least, a little guarded. Van stopped a few feet away, his shoulders heaving, as though he'd been running quite a long way. Which he probably had, considering how far away the Ultrasaurus was. Finally catching his breath, he hesitantly met her eyes, shifting from foot to foot in an awkward silence.

Finally, he said, "So, uh...where's Raven?"

Reiss frowned. "I don't know. I'm not his keeper." She had meant it to come out harshly, and took small satisfaction in seeing him wince.

He stammered, "I just thought...that he would be with you, is all. Sorry."

Reiss rolled her eyes, feeling her headache intensify. "Is that the only reason you came out here, Flyheight? To ask where Raven is?"

Van looked away. "Um, well, no, actually–"

Her patience was suddenly gone. "Well, then out with it! What do you want?"

Finally, he raised his dark eyes to meet hers. "I was wondering if you wanted to come back to, uh..." he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "base. We have plenty of room...if you need somewhere to stay. Or something."

Reiss pursed her lips. "Somehow, I doubt that anyone on that zoid would welcome me. So," she spun on her heel and sat down lightly, "I'm fine. Thank you for the offer," she finished curtly, closing her eyes. Specular, she noted with gratitude, stayed standing between herself and Van.

After a few minutes, Reiss smirked. That had, evidently, gotten rid of him. He always was annoyingly persistent–one of the qualities Hiltz had especially hated. Finally, she murmured, "Okay, Specular...what do you say we–" she opened her eyes and inhaled sharply.

"Aren't you cold?" Van _hadn't_ gone away, but was, in fact, sitting right in front of her, an eyebrow raised.

"You're still _here?_" Reiss smacked her forehead with her hand. "I already said _no,_ so...shoo." She flapped her hand expressively.

Van didn't budge, his expression mild.

Reiss blinked at him in disbelief. Why, _no one_ dared to defy _her! _What nerve! She shook her head furiously and started to stand. "Come on, Specular, we're leav–no. Oh, no." The organoid, apparently satisfied that this newcomer wasn't going to do Reiss any harm, settled herself back down to the sand with an admonitory hiss.

Reiss's shoulders sagged, and she flopped back down to sit on the sand. She avoided Van's gaze for a moment, but finally she brought her bright eyes to meet his in a piercing glare. "Are you going to tell me what you want?"

He shrugged, grinning lopsidedly. "Want? I don't want a thing."

"Then why are you here?"

He shrugged. "You looked lonely, is all." He cocked his head to one side. "You are, aren't you?"

Reiss faltered, opening her mouth to reply, to say that yes, she was lonely, she'd been lonely ever since she's stepped away from Nichalo's freshly-dug grave... But she caught herself just in time and snarled, "Don't try to psychoanalyze me." She turned around and faced away from him, curling her arms around herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tip of Specular's tail. _Traitor,_ she thought bitterly. _Why couldn't you just have bitten him? _

Van's words echoed in her mind, forcing her to think about them. _You are, aren't you? _Lonely? Maybe. Raven, of course, had been a potential source of company...but shortly after the explosion that rocked the very foundations of Evopolis, he'd shrugged off her help and retreated to the solace of Shadow's silence. That stung, but it was to be expected.

Reiss drew her knees into her chest, and rested her head on them. Oh, what she wouldn't give to start all over. Teaming up with Hiltz had certainly seemed like a good idea at the time...but now she was sitting in the middle of a cursed desert with nothing but an organoid to her name. On the other hand...she _was_ famous; the Republic and Empire were probably putting her name on the planet's most wanted list that very moment.

Suddenly, Reiss's head shot back up. Directly in front of her, she could see the bulk of the Ultrasaurus. She stared at it a moment, then hesitantly pushed herself to her feet. She turned around, preparing to leave...and met Van's eyes. She'd almost forgotten her was there, he was so quiet. Right now, he was staring at her warily.

She took a deep breath. "I need to go."

"Why?"

She frowned at him. "Because. I'm a fugitive, and the people that are looking for me are," she pointed behind her, "right over there. I need to go." She felt a growing sense of urgency to get far, far away from the tremendous zoid, and couldn't really understand why he didn't get it.

Van looked past her thoughtfully, and then brought his eyes up to meet hers again. "They won't do anything. Like arrest you, I mean."

"Give me one good reason why they shouldn't."

"Because." He blinked at her. "I won't let them."

Reiss gaped at him. Her first reaction was fury that this..._boy_...would presume to protect her. But her second reaction...it was some unnamable emotion that suddenly made her legs water and refuse to support her. She slid to her knees and stared at Van, hard. She studied him, most of her anger forgotten.

"Why?" she whispered.

He blushed and looked uncomfortable. "I dunno...it's just that...you haven't done anything, really. Really bad, I mean," he added hastily.

Reiss raised an eyebrow. _Really bad__? I've mind-raped people, and he thinks that isn't really bad?_ She whimsically reached out a thin mental line, not powerful enough to crack someone wide open...but enough to be felt. A mental caress, maybe.

Van stiffened, and she laughed aloud, though without much mirth, and called back the line. "I think I would call that 'really bad.' Inducing insanity."

He swallowed and shook his head. "That's not what I mean."

"Close enough." Reiss turned around again, but this time, she lay back onto the sand, so that Van was at her head. She could keep an eye on him there, at least. After a moment, she glanced at him. "Won't they be missing you?"

He shrugged. "Probably not. Most of them are probably too drunk right now to notice much of anything."

"Won't _she_ be missing you?"

Van sighed. He turned and laid back as well, his head a few inches away from hers. Actually, he was on a bit of her hair. Reiss felt the blood rush to her face, but didn't say anything, and didn't move. "Fiona was worn out. She's been asleep for the past five hours. So, no, she isn't missing me right now."

"Good. I bet her nerves are shot, from today." Reiss stared up at the starlit sky thoughtfully, and yawned. "I know mine are." Her eyelids slid lower, lower...and then she was practically asleep. She was definitely still aware, because when Van asked her something, she answered.

"Yes, she terrified me...but you and Raven were worse. You have no idea how many people I've seen slaughtered by the Deathsaurer–you both came close so many times. What with worrying about you, and knowing that Fiona could terminate Eve at anytime and kill us in the process, I was–wait." Reiss dredged herself back up from that half-sleep, and turned to glare sleepily at Van. "You didn't hear that."

_Oh, Eve, please, no..._ He was grinning. "Hear what? That you were...worried? About...me?"

Reiss felt her blood run cold. "No!" She pushed herself up. "I was worried about you _and_ _Raven._ And, well...no. Not you. You were fine. Really. That's all." At a slouched sitting position, she half-turned to look back him. He was still smirking idiotically. Her hands leapt to cover her face. "Oh, no, please just don't talk to me when I'm half-asleep like that. Actually, don't talk to me at all. Just...just go home! Eve!" She smacked the heel of her hand into her forehead. "I shouldn't even be here! I can't believe I'm so stu–" Her hand froze in mid-pound, caught at the wrist by a gloved hand that completely encircled it.

Her heart jumped to her throat, and she swallowed hard, bringing her eyes up to meet Van's. His looked like liquid silver, and practically burned. She almost cringed at their intensity, and so she instead brought her gaze down to where he'd grabbed her wrist. He gripped it firmly, but not painfully–it made her feel helpless, because she couldn't break free for anything. His fingers curled all the way around her slender wrist, meeting on the other side. Fortunately, he hadn't grabbed it upside down; he'd rolled up first, so the angle wasn't clumsy.

After an awkward moment, she darted her gaze back up to his. Thankfully, they weren't full of that scary anger anymore. Now...he just stared at her. Like he was looking for something. Reiss blinked at him, and then wiggled her hand. "Um, hello?"

He blushed shyly, but didn't let go. Slowly, hesitantly, almost as if he was afraid, he pulled her closer. Reiss's eyes went wide, and her pulse quickened. The pull on her wrist was steady, bringing them closer, closer...too close. The angle became too great, and Reiss felt her usually impeccable balance slip. She rocked forward on her knees, but it was no use. With a cry, she fell forward, slamming into Van's chest and knocking him backwards. They both fell with a sharp thud to the sand, and just lay there, motionless, for a few minutes.

Finally, Van muttered, "Ow."

Reiss picked herself delicately off his chest, smoothing her bangs. "That was graceful." She sat on her knees beside him, then darted a look at his flushed and crestfallen face. She rolled her eyes. "You're too young, you know that?"

Van pulled himself up with a groan, and frowned. "What do you mean?" He sat facing her.

Reiss studied his face. "For all of it. The war, especially. How could you have ever gotten involved in something so awful?" He blushed again and shrugged, at a loss for words. Finally, Reiss raised her hand. Slowly, she reached across the invisible barrier between them to establish contact once more. She slid her thin fingers across his jaw, almost covering his scarlet stripe.

His eyes stared at her, full of what seemed to be the same unnamed emotion she had experienced earlier. Now, they were a soft, dark grey that seemed to betray what he was really feeling. With faint surprise, Reiss realized that they changed color. Either that or it must have been an optical illusion from the last vestiges of the crimson sun behind him. _Strange...just like him._

Finally, feeling the warmth of his skin underneath her fingers, Reiss murmured, "You know, you really are...too soft for your own good." She smiled softly, and made a quick decision.

She leaned forward suddenly, supporting her weight with her free left hand, and pressed her lips to his. It took him a few seconds to recover, but he hastily returned the kiss, bringing his hands up to cup her cheeks. He was warm, so warm–he must have felt how chilled she really was, because he suddenly surged against her, as if trying to heat her body, to chase away that iciness that had always been with her.

But she resisted him, bracing a hand against his chest and breaking away. She opened her eyes, and was surprised to find them filled with tears. She leaned her forehead against his, and stared into his eyes for a moment. He returned the gaze, but his was bewildered, confused. Finally, she whispered, "Go back to her. She's waiting." With that, she pressed an almost maternal kiss to his forehead and stood, letting her fingers trail across his skin as she rose.

Behind her, Specular finally got to her feet, satisfied that her mistress was done here. She took a few clanking steps, and leaned forward to nudge Reiss's shoulder. The girl wrapped her arm around to grasp one of the organoid's mandibles. She took a deep breath, gave Van a sad little smile, and started to walk. She kept her eyes fixed on the horizon, where ruby sunset and sapphire dusk still battled it out. It had been on the verge of night for so long, it seemed like the twilight was broken, on an ever-repeating loop that would never end.

She didn't look back, because she was afraid that if she did, she would give in to the ache that was already growing in her chest.

**Heh.**** I'm back again. It's, um...2.26.05, according to my watch. Oh, god, it's almost tomorrow morning. I just wanted to redo parts of this. Yay. I don't own anything, including the lyrics for the Mononoke song up there. **

**Peace, lovies.**


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